I love Doris Lessing. I think the wise part to getting older fits. Maybe even the irritable part because I have finally learned to stand up and ask for what I want.
It took me a long time to learn to ask for what I wanted, too. Years ago, a wise woman said to me, “You can ask for anything you want as long as you’re willing to take no for an answer.” Whew! What a revelation! Learning to say what we want takes practice; and it takes letting go of a no. It’s all practice. I guess that’s why we keep writing…practice in living or at least in thinking.
Thanks so much for being along on this journey! J.
Love it! I will agree…but I believe that with wisdom comes the irritability of knowing that something could have been done better, or there could have been a wiser perspective to understand it 😉
Well, there’s a good way of putting it! I usually don’t know how to do something until I’ve done it and then I have to either figure out how to undo or redo – or just leave it alone. Talk about irritability! I guess that’s where the “wiser perspective” comes in.
I like the quote. It’s true that I haven’t grown wiser. I do care less about what people think about me. Depending on the recipient of my statements, I may appear to be irritable; I can’t help that they are over-sensitive, though.
I don’t totally agree with old age as irritable. It depends on the person and how one chooses to live one’s life. I think I’ve become “saner” and better at making more reasonable and rational decisions. I.very thankful and appreciative of whatever is done for me by other people. I try to always be gracious to anyone that I encounter. However, Yes, there are days when I feel “out of snuff” and don’t care to talk but I still make the effort to be nice, for it’s the right thing to do.
No, I don’t either. But I love the line. Her wit was always pretty dry. As I said in an earlier reply, I expect her comment has as much to do with her inability to write much in her later years. She’d run out of things to say, I read in one interview. And after forty-plus years of writing and doing interviews, I can understand the comment of an 85+ year old woman! She was always a solitary. And as a solitary, even as a “young elder” I can understand the quote. But being around old cranky people isn’t much fun either. I can understand that too. But some days? Well, that’s what it is. There’s a post linked below the quote that says more about my relationship to her work. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. 🙂
Ha Ha! I love that! It is kind of true. The other day my husband asked me if I thought he was curmudgeon! I declined to answer! Thanks for your fabulous quote! ❤
It’s kind of true on those mornings when nothing much works! And p.s. please tell your husband I absolutely love the word, “curmudgeon”! I mean, really. It’s not used enough.
So glad we’re connected.
Well, I think that’s just silly. We might grow irritable, and we might not increase in wisdom — but not necessarily. I did just go over and have a quick browse through Ms. Lessing’s quotations on Goodreads. She certainly does seem to have a pessimistic, even crotchety streak!
Yes, she did have a crotchety streak! And the quote made me laugh. I don’t know that she was pessimistic as much as worn out with notoriety. She’d been writing so many years and given so many interviews. I began reading her work in the early 70s. No doubt her life in South Africa, on a farm, during the difficult years of transition, influenced many of her observations. Over the years, she also seemed to get frustrated with no longer writing as well as she once did. Which may have something to do with the not getting wiser remark. The essay, “Characters That Haunt You,” says more about my relationship with her work. It’s linked right below the quote.
with Silver Threading
janetsunderland.com 
I love Doris Lessing. I think the wise part to getting older fits. Maybe even the irritable part because I have finally learned to stand up and ask for what I want.
It took me a long time to learn to ask for what I wanted, too. Years ago, a wise woman said to me, “You can ask for anything you want as long as you’re willing to take no for an answer.” Whew! What a revelation! Learning to say what we want takes practice; and it takes letting go of a no. It’s all practice. I guess that’s why we keep writing…practice in living or at least in thinking.
Thanks so much for being along on this journey! J.
Love it! I will agree…but I believe that with wisdom comes the irritability of knowing that something could have been done better, or there could have been a wiser perspective to understand it 😉
Well, there’s a good way of putting it! I usually don’t know how to do something until I’ve done it and then I have to either figure out how to undo or redo – or just leave it alone. Talk about irritability! I guess that’s where the “wiser perspective” comes in.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Terri.
I like the quote. It’s true that I haven’t grown wiser. I do care less about what people think about me. Depending on the recipient of my statements, I may appear to be irritable; I can’t help that they are over-sensitive, though.
Exactly. It’s the over-sensitive thing we missed reading in their face!! Thanks Dane.
I don’t totally agree with old age as irritable. It depends on the person and how one chooses to live one’s life. I think I’ve become “saner” and better at making more reasonable and rational decisions. I.very thankful and appreciative of whatever is done for me by other people. I try to always be gracious to anyone that I encounter. However, Yes, there are days when I feel “out of snuff” and don’t care to talk but I still make the effort to be nice, for it’s the right thing to do.
No, I don’t either. But I love the line. Her wit was always pretty dry. As I said in an earlier reply, I expect her comment has as much to do with her inability to write much in her later years. She’d run out of things to say, I read in one interview. And after forty-plus years of writing and doing interviews, I can understand the comment of an 85+ year old woman! She was always a solitary. And as a solitary, even as a “young elder” I can understand the quote. But being around old cranky people isn’t much fun either. I can understand that too. But some days? Well, that’s what it is. There’s a post linked below the quote that says more about my relationship to her work. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. 🙂
Ha Ha! I love that! It is kind of true. The other day my husband asked me if I thought he was curmudgeon! I declined to answer! Thanks for your fabulous quote! ❤
It’s kind of true on those mornings when nothing much works! And p.s. please tell your husband I absolutely love the word, “curmudgeon”! I mean, really. It’s not used enough.
So glad we’re connected.
Same here! He is actually one of the nicest men around so it really does not apply. He felt bad that day. I like the sound of the word too. ❤
That’s funny!
Thanks, Adriana. I thought it was too. And I can certainly relate on those mornings when I don’t feel like talking!
Well, I think that’s just silly. We might grow irritable, and we might not increase in wisdom — but not necessarily. I did just go over and have a quick browse through Ms. Lessing’s quotations on Goodreads. She certainly does seem to have a pessimistic, even crotchety streak!
Yes, she did have a crotchety streak! And the quote made me laugh. I don’t know that she was pessimistic as much as worn out with notoriety. She’d been writing so many years and given so many interviews. I began reading her work in the early 70s. No doubt her life in South Africa, on a farm, during the difficult years of transition, influenced many of her observations. Over the years, she also seemed to get frustrated with no longer writing as well as she once did. Which may have something to do with the not getting wiser remark. The essay, “Characters That Haunt You,” says more about my relationship with her work. It’s linked right below the quote.